Tools for checking your registration, mobilizing your community, having difficult discussions, and more.
Churches can play a pivotal role in educating and encouraging each voter to make a plan to vote and make their voice heard. NCC’s Voting Matters 2024 Empowerment Guide is designed for member denominations to share the critical voting information and promote action on the congregational level each month until Election Day
Gracious and Merciful God,
Hallowed be Thy name! Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. O God, we come before You as Your people called by Your name, asking that You fortify, cover, and keep us as we approach Election Day 2024. This election season has stirred uncertainty and turmoil, hateful rhetoric and confusion, vitriol and fear. Help us, O God.
We pray for Your grace and mercy and we seek Your strength and comfort. In these tenuous times, may we be instruments of Your peace, light, and hope. During these distressing days help us embody the fruit of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control — in how we relate to one another. Help us, O God.
O God, we seek courage to be Your witnesses in the public square. In these few days leading to the election and in the days following, we desire to be ambassadors for Christ and a transformative presence in the communities where we live and serve. We pray that we will exercise our right to vote and that each person recognizes that vote is their voice and their vote matters! Move on the hearts of Your people, that no one will avoid civic engagement because of apathy, cynicism, or discouragement. Help us, O God.
Remind us, O God, of the dignity and worth of each person. Help us see Your image and likeness in everyone, not just those who look, believe, and think as we do. We beseech You to turn stony hearts to flesh and help each voter to discern what is true, just, honorable, and pure. Help us to do justice and love mercy in ways that propel us to become a more perfect union and the Beloved Community. In this moment, may we remember Your word in Philippians 2:4, “Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others.” Help us, O God.
O God, disrupt every evil device and scheme that seeks to jeopardize our democracy. Protect every voter and let every vote be counted! We recognize that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world. So, in the face of lies that threaten the safety of others and disinformation that divides us, embolden and strengthen us to stand firm and speak truth to power. Help us, O God.
Help us be faithful and do the work You entrusted to us, O God. We trust You with the outcomes of our efforts that Your love may abound and Your peace may permeate our hearts and spirits. Help us in all things to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with You. We pray in the Name of the Christ who came to give us abundant life. Amen.
Tools and information from NCC Member Communions, state councils of churches, and other partners.
Otis’ Dream is a short film by Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, III, senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, one of the National Council of Churches’ member communion churches, that recounts the experience of his grandfather, Otis Moss Sr., who sought to vote in 1946 during a time when doing so could be deadly.
This film underlines the vital importance of understanding our voting history and the necessity of participating in elections.
